Software Recommendation
This article was created by BlackOak42 I highly recommend a deep security/virus scan on all downloads that you try. I found downloads that were removed for various reasons including confirmed viruses, including one that showed users claiming the virus detection was false. These are the programs that I found to be most beneficial to me and are only my recommendation #HexEdit (4.0) - Windows only, but uses macros that can be saved, is free, and very functional. I have a character table to make text quick and easy to find and edit. It is also good for importing and exporting data. By moving the data fields with macros, I was able to clear the old data space so it could be reused. I am trying out HexEdit (5.0) #OpenOffice (4.1.2) - Flexible and almost as easy to use as Office. I use Notepad as a go between for OpenOffice and HexEdit. Great for data management tables and cell functions to help build data. #GBA Graphic editor (2.2) - Very functional. Fairly easy to figure out how to avoid errors. Bug free as far as I have seen. It detected sprites that unLZ-GBA did not. It was much easier than unLZ to precisely control the locations, Pallets, and more. Fairly easy to find and view tiled graphics. #GIMP (2.8) - Easy to sprite with indexed colors. With GIMP Extensions (2.8.2.8.20150403), it works great with high end pen tablets (or at least mine anyway). GIMP-help-2-2.8.2 is also useful. #NTME (1.1) - Not quite intuitive but useful for setting tiled graphics like the game title. It is fairly easy to get accustomed to how it works. #AdvanceMap (1.95) - Great for map tracing and locating scripts if you chose XSE as the companion script editor. Also quite easy to use to edit maps. great for exporting map pictures. some feature In AM(1.92) are not in AM(1.95) and vice versa. #XSE (1.1.1) - Works great with multiple AdvanceMap sessions simultaneously. XSE can save scripts to files that can be moved to the ROM when space is allocated and the version of that script is chosen. #TileMolester (0.16) - Not quite intuitive, but was useful to edit the Fonts. Could be used identify file locations to convert the fonts to ASCII using HexEdit Macros. #VisualBoyAdvance-M-WX - Touchy with glitchy ROMs, but seems stable with my ROMs. Great interface and menus. Quickly navigates to any ROM in directories under the file directory it is in. VBA (1.8.0) seems more stable but features are less developed. #RetroGBA (3.6.0) - In order of importance to me, this android app: has no undesirable permissions; could quickly and easily import a variety of ROM types including mine by copying them to the ROM file location; least permissions; very stable; small footprint; relatively easy to use cheat codes. #A-Save (1.27) - Great for modifying a test save to create a quick way to test Ponydex, test items and fix some inventory quantity and location problems caused by cheat codes. These are the software I used to Identify data or check my work: #PokemonGameEditor (3.7) - Ran into some slight bugs that introduced bugs into my data. I found myself using Hex Edit to catch these bugs. Uses an INI to locate data. You must update the INI if you change any data locations. Great for identifying data fields. Great if you want to tweak the original ROM, but I found it much faster to set up tables, and transfer data between the ROM and tables. (see Quality Samples for more info on this). Writes random bytes in non-related areas when editing. #YAPE - Uses an INI to locate data. You must update the INI if you change any data locations. Great for identifying data fields. #HopelessTrainerEditor (1.0) - Uses an INI to locate data. You must update the INI if you change any data locations. Great for identifying and deciphering trainer party data. #OverworldEditorRE (1.1.3) - Uses an INI to locate data. You must update the INI if you change any data locations. Great for identifying and deciphering play area sprites and data. -BlackOak42 Category:Meta Pages